She stared.
And stared.
And stared.
But the scene before her didn’t change.
Aiko watched as the Blue Stars —including herself— made their way through the halls of the Deathrose palace. She looked at the floor she was sitting on. She wasn’t moving at all, but at the same time she WAS moving. It was like she was watching the Stars on a 3D TV. It was the strangest thing Aiko ever experienced. And, frankly, it’s the hardest thing to explain.
And here I thought things couldn’t get any weirder…
Looking at herself slung over Kaji’s shoulders, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had died again. But, that can’t be right, right? Stars don’t die. And, besides, even if she DID die, Kaji should have noticed it, and he should have stopped making it hard on himself by carrying her on his back, right?
“Actually, no,” came a new voice beside Aiko. “You’re not dead, you’re just floating between the conscious and the subconscious.”
Aiko blinked at the woman now standing beside her. She looked young, but definitely older than Aiko. She had strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and a gentle smile. She was wearing a pink dress, and she looked absolutely dainty, but there was something about the way she stood that told Aiko that this woman was no prissy.
“I’m sorry?” she asked. The older woman chuckled.
“Floating,” she repeated, “between your conscious and your subconscious, and at the same time between yourself and the self that Youko developed.”
“OK…” was all Aiko could say.
“Just as your sister explained,” the woman added. She didn’t say anything else as she continued smiling, waiting for Aiko to process the situation.
“So… we’re in my brain?” Aiko asked tentatively.
“Yes, that’s correct. We can see your friends because, even though you are physically asleep, your senses are still working, thus they send the information they get to your mind, where we are now.”
“OK…” Aiko said, “So, the reason you can read my thoughts is precisely because we’re in my head?”
“Precisely.”
“Uh-huh… So… If we’re in my mind, then why is it that I don’t know who you are?”
The woman smiled — not that she ever stopped. “My name is Yume. You do not remember me because I am not supposed to be in your memories to begin with. I am from Youko’s memories, some of which have been transferred to you when he altered your mind. That, though, was not supposed to happen. I suppose he was trying too hard to penetrate your mind.”
“You’re from Youko’s memories,” Aiko echoed.
“Yes. Although the real Yume does not exist anymore, I am her as Youko remembered. Add the information in Youko’s mind that was also transferred to you, plus the information in your mind, and —viola!— you have me, the Yume in your mind. That is why I am able to explain these things to you, which the real Yume would never be able to, due to her limited knowledge.”
“This is getting more confusing by the second,” Aiko honestly blurted out.
Yume chuckled, and, randomly, Aiko wondered if Yume’s patience had a limit or not.
“That is expected,” Yume said. “Perhaps you can ask Ran to explain how brainwashing works, and the complications involved. Perhaps he can present it to you in a more comprehensible fashion. I never was able to teach well.”
“What the…” came Mai’s voice, catching Aiko’s attention. She realized that the Stars had stopped running, and Mai was now trying to push heavy, dark brown doors open, but to no avail.
“This is wrong…” Mai said. “The doors here should open for me.”
“May I try?” Kamui asked.
“Sure,” Mai started as she turned around, “but the locks are ki-sens—”
Mai’s reasoning was cut short when vines suddenly burst from behind Kamui, whizzed past Mai, and crashed through the heavy doors that she had been trying to open.
“How’s that?”
“That’ll work,” Mai said as she stepped through huge hole in the door. She made her way to Youko’s desk and examined it. Then, she carefully slid her hands across the glass panel on the desk, as if she was feeling for something that the eye couldn’t see.
“If my memory serves me right— AHA!”
Hikaru watched in awe as a huge 3D hologram of the Deathrose palace suddenly appeared on the desk. The palace itself was a white color, the intensity varying in different parts of the palace. And, there, in one certain part of it, were several colored blobs — for lack of a better word— were huddled together.
“Whoa. Cool gadget,” he quipped.
“Only Youko-san and I have the ability to use it, he said, but he never did let me…” Mai trailed off as she scanned the whole palace. “OK. This shows the ki concentration in the palace to detect foreign presence,” Mai explained as she scanned the whole palace. “There’s no one else here except us,” she said, pointing to the blue blobs in the diagram. “That black one is me.”
“Hey…How come Ai-chan’s black, too?” Sara asked, squinting.
“Maybe because Youko-san’s ki is still mixed with hers.”
“Is the whole palace shown on this thing?” Kaji asked.
“Yes. Even my garden is on here…”
“Maybe they’re outside the palace,” Hikaru suggested.
“Yeah, maybe they’re fighting outside the barrier,”Yuki agreed.
“Or, maybe they’re at the Blue Star palace.”
Mai turned to Kamui sharply, her eyebrows furrowing.
“Just a suggestion,” he added, shrugging. “I know it’s unlikely, but I just thought… anything’s possible and—”
“Kamui…” Mai breathed, interrupting Kamui’s explanation (which was most likely senseless, anyway). “Kamui, that’s it.”
He blinked. “You think they’re there?”
“I’m sure they’re there,” Mai said confidently. With a wave of her hand, she made the 3d hologram disappear. “He must have planned this from the beginning! He captured Oniichan so we’ll be forced to come here and fight a brainwashed Aiko so that he can duel with Ran-sama without us getting in the way! Youko-san must be thinking he can change history by killing Ran-sama at the exact same place of the War! It’s totally logical! Kamui, you’re absolutely brilliant!”
Kamui blinked again, his brain still processing Mai’s long explanation. “I am?”
“Wait a sec,” Kaji started, his eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean, ‘the War’?”
“It’s a long story, Kaji—”
“You don’t mean the one where Shindou fought against the Elementals, do you?”
Mai blinked. “Yes, but…”
“ARGH! I knew it! I freakin’ knew it!!!”
“Wasn’t that just a legend?” Yuki asked.
“Ran may have told it as a bedtime story, but I knew it ain’t no fairytale.”
When Yuki looked unconvinced, Kaji challenged her.
“Ever wondered why the princes’re the only ones in the freakin’ story who don’t have no names? There’s Gansei and Zai and Shindou and Yume an’ everyone else, but the princes, the main characters, don’t have any names. Ever wondered why the story’s so long and detailed, but there ain’t no inconsistencies and Ran doesn’t get anything wrong? It’s because it’s his story, Yuki!”
“Well, fine, if Ran-sama’s one of the princes, then who’s the other one?”
“Uh…Excuse me,” Hikaru interupted, raising his hand. “Might we continue this on the way? Mai did say this is gonna be a long explanation.”
“Good one, Hikaru,” Kaji said before kicking the ground to fly out the door.
“Wait, Kaji, you haven’t answered me yet!” Yuki called, flying after him.
Hikaru and Mai followed right behind her. Sara was about to fly through the gaping hole on the door, as well, when she realized that Kamui had not moved from his spot, staring blankly at the space Mai had occupied.
“Oniichan?”
Kamui’s head snapped up. “Huh?”
“What’s wrong?” Sara asked, worried. Did her brother finally sense Ran? She bit her lip, praying that nothing bad had happened to their master.
But then she found she didn’t have to worry at all: Kamui smiled.
“She thinks I’m brilliant,” he said.
Sara fought the urge to laugh. “Yeah, Oniichan. Whoopee. So does practically every girl in your school.”
“But she thinks I’m absolutely brilliant,” Kamui insisted.
“Hai, hai…” Sara said, rolling her eyes before proceeding to pull on Kamui’s arm. “Let’s go, Brilliant Boy, your princess awaits.”
“Wait a second…” Aiko said, turning to Yume after Kamui and Sara flew out of Youko’s office. “How come we’re still here? I mean, aren’t we supposed to be watching them still?”
“Perhaps the effect of the Roses are completely diminishing now.”
“Wha? So the weird things that I was supposed to see… That’s it?”
“Yes, perhaps. Your resolve on the truth seems to be strong.”
“But aren’t I supposed to be waking up if the effect has diminished?” Inwardly, Aiko winced. She was starting to get annoyed with her own inquisitive voice. But Yume didn’t seem to be bothered at all.
“Yes, that is the way it is supposed to be,” Yume answered, smiling. “Somehow, things are happening differently with you. But almost everything is different when it comes to you, anyway. You are different from the rest, in more ways than one, Kazetenshi Aiko.”
————–
The flight to the Blue Star palace seemed tremendously longer than their flight to the Deathrose palace, even if it was the same distance. It may have been because the Stars had already engaged in a battle. Then again, perhaps it’s because they were in a hurry. That was how it usually is, Yuki mused: when you’re waiting for something, it seems to take way longer than it actually does.
The Stars finally broke through the barrier, and each one of them came to an abrupt halt. They stood there, frozen, for a moment, until Sara spoke.
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
They had never felt Ran’s ki flare so wildly. They didn’t have to look for his ki. It was all around them, so powerful around them, that Yuki was almost sure that if there wasn’t a barrier around the Star palace, the potentials on the ground could feel it, as well.
First to recover, Kaji continued flying to the battlefield Ran told them about when they were young.
Go straight through the main hall, turn right when you reach the hallways, and then turn left at the end. Eventually, you’ll come acorss black doors covered by dark green drapes. Those doors open to a wide, less lighted hallway, the end of which will lead to another pair of black doors behind white curtains. When those doors open, one should see the Stars’ destination.
But since following that route will make him simply run along the perimeter of the whole palace — and he’s far too impatient to do that at the moment — Kaji flew across the main hall, straight through the main hallway, and burst through the doors that lead to the huge staircases. Kaji crouched for a split-second in the middle of the room, then almost literally rocketed upward, straight towards the glass dome serving as the roof.
“Ka…Kaji?!”
The maroon-haired boy smirked. Yuki must be thinking that he planned to crash through the glass dome. Well, that idea seemed to be appealing, except he was carrying Aiko behind his back.
Hold on, Aiko… This’ll be over soon…
Five seconds more, and he would have hit the glass. But Kaji stopped flying, letting the momentum carry him, and he changed direction, heading instead for one of the window panes. Pushing at the metal frame with all his might — at the same time being careful not to break the glass — Kaji opened the windows, letting the cold night air momentarily shock his skin. From there, the Stars took to the skies, cutting though the palace from outside.
And there, at the opposite end of the Blue Star palace was their destination: first, a courtyard with a magnificent fountain in the middle, past which would be a field of green that goes as far as the eye could see.
But that had been what was there yesterday. Now, the fountain in the previously serene courtyard was ruined, and blazing white and ominously black orbs and flashes swiftly flew back and forth, further destroying the garden. The source of these attacks, however, remained unseen to everyone’s eyes. Except for one Kazetenshi Hikaru, whose brain can only think of a string of three simple words.
Ran. Is. AWESOME.
Hikaru’s brown eyes could barely keep up with the two fighting men whose feet never touched the ground. He tensely watched as Ran and Youko exchange punches, kicks, and attacks that looked nowhere near an Element, their weapons swiftly switching from spheres to swords to a number of other forms that Hikaru couldn’t identify. Neither man showed exhaustion, neither man did so much as wince.
“I don’t see them. Do you?” Kaji quietly yet urgently asked no one in particular.
“No, they’re too fast,” Yuki answered beside him.
“I do,” Hikaru finally spoke up, not taking his eyes off the fight. “I hate to say it but I think Ran-sama’s—”
The last word of Hikaru’s sentence got stuck in his throat as Ran’s black sphere suddenly sped towards the Stars. And while his brain was registering that, Sara suddenly ran forward, flinging her arms wide. And while his mind was registering that, the black orb disintegrated with a slivers of energy, if you can imagine with me, as it collided with Sara, lifting — no, thrusting her into the air and slamming her on the ground.
“SARA!”
His sister winced as Kamui helped her sit up. “It wasn’t deadly.”
“What?”
“It was Ran-sama’s attack. Youko threw it towards us. It wasn’t fatal.”
Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Well, obviously it wasn’t fatal: Sara was still alive. But it didn’t make sense, did it? Why would Ran, after finally getting the chance to fight his arch-nemesis head on, use such an attack?
“Dammit,” Kaji hissed to himself as he set Aiko down on the floor. The girl was sleeping as if there was nothing going on around her. And Kaji wanted nothing but to keep her safe. If anything happened to her…
Kaji closed his eyes, blocking the thought out of his mind. What he needed to do now was think. He needed to think how they was going to defeat an opponent this fast, lethal and freaking unbeatable…
Mai swallowed painfully, her eyes trying to follow the occasional flash of silver, but to no avail. The calm that had rest on her during the past hour suddenly dissipated, almost leaving her shaking. This was the first time she ever saw Youko fight so seriously — not that she’s actually seeing him right now — and this was going to be the first time she was going to fight him. Youko. The man she grew up practically idolizing. She knew she was to join the swift exchange of black and white orbs, whether she wanted to or not. To say that she was scared would be an understatement. But, as scared as she was, she was determined.
“All right,” Kaji’s voice came, breaking through her thoughts. His eyes never left the unseen battle even as he spoke to the Stars at an urgently rapid pace. “I’m not sure why Ran’s not trying to kill Youko right now, but since he isn’t, then it gives us no reason to do so. Our objective will be to wear Youko down, unless Ran tells us otherwise. Toriyama, stay with Aiko and Sara for a sec—”
“Right.”
“—Hikaru, keep alert for any second we’re going to need a distraction—”
“Roger that.”
“—Mai, I know this is gonna be hard, but I’m going to need you to focus—”
“Got it.”
“—And Yuki?”
“Yeah?”
“I think a little rain might help.”
Droplets of water promptly fell from the sky, letting the Stars catch a glimpse of two shadows breaking the rain’s fall. It was still pretty vague and hard to follow the Masters who didn’t even seem to notice the rain, but at least it gave the Stars an idea where they were.
“GO!”
It seemed like only Kamui was surprised that is was Ran who shouted the command: the rest of the Stars jumped in the fray without hesitation. But the surprise wore off quickly — he was sort of used to Ran surprising them all the time — and he turned to see how his sister was doing beside him. Seeing what he saw, his jaw dropped, and immediately yelled in disbelief:
“What the heck are you doing?!”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Sara asked, not looking at her brother, “I’m trying to Heal Ai-chan here.”
Kamui groaned in frustration. “Sara, you don’t have to do this right now. Rest for a second, will you?”
“While you guys are fighting for your life? I don’t think so.”
“But you need it! You’re already weak—”
“This is my job, Kamui!!!” Sara fiercely yelled at her brother. “This is what I’m here for! Let me do my job so you can do yours!”
For a moment, Kamui just looked at her. She was right, he knew. But still…
“Oniichan, you don’t have to look out for me all the time.”
“I’m your brother, Sara,” Kamui said, a small smile gracing his face. “I’m supposed to look out for you even when you don’t need me to.”
With that settled, the two Toriyamas went and did what they were there to do: Sara healed Aiko while Kamui watched the battle with keen eyes. It was pretty strange to watch the fight since the Stars seemed to fight an invisible enemy. But their actions seemed focused and determined as their Marks shone bright. Kaji and Yuki seemed to be in the frontlines as they weilded their swords. Mai only occasionally jumped in, and it always seemed like she did just so that Kaji and Yuki could a second’s rest or to gather momentum. Hikaru was also there, throwing light, and even deflecting the orbs with something that seemed to work like laser. Kamui concluded that maybe their eyes were catching up with Youko’s speed, now that they were in the battlefield with him.
Sara’s eyebrows furrowed as she released Aiko’s hand. It seemed that Aiko didn’t need to be Healed, after all. She was about to share the news with Kamui when Kaji suddenly stopped her.
“Sara!”
Her head swiveled to the battle, blinking when she found that Kaji had his full attention on fighting Youko. After a couple of seconds that Kaji didn’t even glance at her, Sara tilted her head to her brother, her eyes still waiting for Kaji to call her in any way.
“Did Kaji call me?”
“Hino? No… Why?”
Before Sara could answer, though, Kaji’s voice resounded in her ears once more—
“SARA!”
—without him opening his mouth.
“What on earth…” was all she could mumble.
“Sara, if you could hear me, say something will ya?!”
“Huh?!”
“What’s wrong?” Kamui asked, obviously confused, but still trying to watch the battle, as well.
“I’m tryin’a communicate through yer head, Sara. If you can hear me, say somethin’!”
Through my head?! Sara thought, incredulous. How—
“Aha! So you CAN hear me! Awesome!”
Sara only blinked as she tried to get over the sight of Kaji fighting so fiercely, while his image in her mind was almost jumping around in delight. What a weird mental image that was.
“Listen: you’ve always heard my thoughts even though you never really intended to, so I guessed that you’ll prolly hear me if I TRIED communicating to you. All I did was think real hard that I was talking to you even though I wasn’t. Look, I need ya to do something: I need you to concentrate an’ try to call out my shots to the others. I can’t call ‘em when Youko could hear me, yeah? We need the element of surprise right now—”
But, Kaji, I never really successfully relayed a thought before! I never—
“Woman, -I- did it without training! You can do this, I know you can! It’s yer GIFT, Sara!”
At this, Sara’s mouth clamped shut, most of her doubts suddenly disappearing. Except for one…
But, Kaji, if I can do this, then can’t Youko hear me, too?
“Maybe, maybe not. Look, let’s just try, OK?”
Concerned as he was of his sister, Kamui knew he had to focus on the battle. Although he couldn’t read the look on Sara’s face, she seemed to be fine as she stared at Kaji, so Kamui supposed that would have to do for now.
Kamui couldn’t help but grin as he watched his teammates. True, they were a team enough, almost thinking alike so that their movements complemented each other, but, suddenly, their timing got even better. It was as if they were actually thinking alike. It was as if they were moving as one person! Although Youko was still as swift as ever, Kamui could now see more and more glimpses of him as the battle wore on. It was evident that the Stars were gaining ground!
But then, Kamui’s mental celebration was cut short when, suddenly, three things happened at once: A huge, blazing white sphere barrelled towards them, Yuki’s scream pierced the air, and then Ran was suddenly hurtling out of the battle.
Kamui’s instincts kicked in, and then suddenly, it was as if his body moved before he commanded it to. The earth erupted before him to form a shield, plants burst from the ground to catch both Ran and Yuki, he grabbed both his sister and Aiko and jumped away from their position, all in three seconds. If he had been a second late, large pieces of the earth would have hit the three of them quite painfully. That, or they’d probably be dead.
Kamui didn’t stop running until he reached the unconscious Ran. He let go of Sara who immediately check Ran, just as he realized that Youko didn’t follow up his attack. Sparing a glance at the battle, Kamui released a quick breath of relief, seeing that Kaji was keeping Youko busy with his ever-reliable fire sword, and that Yuki, although unconscious, still seemed OK. Near him, the Blue Star sensei wasn’t moving, but Kamui decided not to worry. Settling Aiko on the floor near Sara, Kamui turned to his sister.
“OK?”
“I’ll handle it. Go!”
He needn’t be told twice. In the next second, he was running into the heat of the battle.
Mai winced as she landed stumbling on the ground after an attempt of an attack as Youko struck Yuki. Although she knew she shouldn’t keep her back at the enemy, she had to stop to catch her breath. She hated to admit it, but fatigue was getting to her. And she knew it wasn’t too different with the rest of the Stars, even though they were increasingly effective since Sara started being their channel. She turned in her crouching position, once again readying herself to fight, readying herself to try and catch her evasive Master.
But Mai saw Youko clearly; not just a flash of silver every once in a while. His lips straight as his eyes were glued on her. His silver gaze did not waver in the slightest, even as he stopped Kaji’s sword with his bare hands. His gaze did not waver even as he pulled the flaming sword so he could clamp his free hand tightly on Kaji’s neck. His gaze didn’t waver even as he threw Kaji away like a ragdoll. Not wasting a second, Mai charged at Youko with her twin swords. In the corner of her eye, Mai saw Kamui running towards them, too, and several meters into the sidelines, Kaji landed roughly, but thankfully on his feet.
Youko smiled. With one wave of his hand, he sent Kamui flying back where he came from, and it took every once of Mai’s self-control not to lose her focus. Youko easily stopped Mai’s fire with his own blazing white Sword, but Mai didn’t give up. She returned with a series of swift attacks of her left and right swords, but Youko kept up with her.
Once again, the swords clashed, holding the two Roses at equilibrium. Mai narrowed her eyes as Youko brought his face closer to hers.
“My, Princess, I have to admit you’ve improved greatly since the last time we sparred.”
“Don’t tell me you’re actually proud.”
“As a matter of fact, I am. Who do you think taught you everything you know for the last 12 years?”
“Thanks to you, it wasn’t my mother!”
Mai pushed herself away, landing a several meters away from the silver-haired man, her feet grinding across the dirt. After regaining her balance, Mai took a moment to take in the sight before her. She noticed how her Master’s appearance finally showed signs of fighting. His white clothes were soiled, there were several tears, and his shoulders rose and fell with each breath he took. Though his hair was still as sleek as ever, and he looked nowhere near exhausted, it was a new thing for Mai to see him exerting effort on something as simple as breathing.
So Youko-san’s power has a limit, after all…
“Look around you, Princess,” he told her.
Although skeptical, Mai did as she was instructed. To her right, Hikaru was looking at her worriedly as he held an unconscious Yuki in his arms. To her left behind Kamui was Sara looking utterly exhausted, but trying to Heal a still unconscious Ran. Mai could only wonder what Youko did to the Blue Star Master. Kaji was also there, hands on his knees and breathing heavily. Mai thought it was a wonder he was still standing, considering that he arguably fought the most tonight, and took the most hits for everyone. Despite the fact that he was obviously dangerously close to collapsing, he still stood his ground, his eyes still determined to fight.
Mai’s eyes flicked back to Kamui, only then taking in the details, her eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion. He had his bamboo sword in one hand, while his other fist was up in the air, his face clearly spelling frustration. What on earth was Kamui doing?
“It’s just you and me now, Mai,” came Youko’s voice again, making Mai turn to him. “Forgive me, but I decided to give your newfound friends a break, seeing that they’re already terribly tired…”
With a flick of his wrist, a white sphere appeared. Mai’s eyes widened for a second as she recognized it. To those unfamiliar with Youko’s attacks, his blazing white orbs all looked the same: from those that were simply a ball of pretty harmless concentrated ki to those that could actually damage you. But Mai knew exactly which attack this was.
When Youko took a step towards her, Mai involuntarily stepped back, making the silver-haired man laugh.
“What, Mai? Are you scared?”
“No,” she answered with such conviction she surprised herself.
“Oh? You do recognize this, don’t you?” Youko asked, indicating the sphere.
“It’s the Void,” Mai answered. “But I doubt you’re going to kill me.”
Again, Mai blinked. Where did THAT come from?! It was as if Mai didn’t know what she was saying, but at the same time, she did. It was as if something else was giving her the words to speak…
“Oh?” Youko asked again, his eyebrow rising in curiosity. “Then, pray, tell me how you reached such a conclusion…”
“You fought with Ran-sama this whole time. You fought the Stars whose level is nowhere near yours… Yet you have yet to inflict real damage. It makes me wonder if you really want to eliminate us at all.”
At this, Youko’s smirk fell, and his eyes darkened.
“Then I suppose I’m going to have to prove it to you, yes?”
Mai opened her mouth to answer, but, Youko suddenly disappeared. Before Mai could think of jumping away to dodge anything that may be going her way, something hard hit her cheek solidly, making her vision to spin. She braced herself, knowing that she was going to hit the ground, but instead of feeling the brutal roughness of the floor, a different kind of pain rippled through her body starting from her stomach. And then, suddenly, she was airborne.
“DAMMIT!” Kamui cursed a tad louder than he had wanted as he helplessly watched Mai get chucked into the air. His fists clenched so tight that his knuckles almost turned white. In frustration (and with a little bit of hope) he pounded his fists on the barrier Youko had created around Mai and himself. Kamui had never felt so desperately useless. There he was, the so-called prodigy, and he could do nothing to help his friends. The rest of the Stars have already done their part, but what about him?!
Kamui spared a second to glance behind him. Ran was still unconscious, even though Sara had apprently done what she can to Heal him. His sister was sitting there, eyes transfixed on the duel inside the barrier. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks. Turning towards the battle — no, torture — again, Kamui hit his head on the barrier, this time.
“Tell me what to do…” was his almost inaudible plea. “There has to be something I can do…”
“We can’t go inside…” came a voice that was vaguely like Kaji’s, causing Kamui to look up at him. Despite Kaji’s obvious condition, Kamui suddenly wanted to vent out his frustration at the maroon-haired Star.
“Gee whiz, I didn’t notice that,” Kamui said, his voice oozing with sarcasm. “How smart of you to figure that—”
“We can’t go inside,” Kaji repeated, “and our Elements can’t, either… But the ground under his feet is there whether Youko likes it or not.”
Kamui blinked, his eyes widening.
“Hino, you’re a genius.”
“I know. Now, get to work!”
Mai finally landed on the ground after being tossed around in mid-air, and, for the first time ever, she was happy for feeling the impact of hitting ground zero. One, because it meant that she was still alive as she still had the sense of touch, and two, because it meant that Youko had stopped, even for a few seconds, hitting her. But when Mai opened her eyes, she momentarily doubted her first conclusion: all she saw was WHITE.
“Well, well… I wonder what your brother is planning now,” came Youko’s voice, and Mai felt relief wash over her.
So the Stars have a plan, and, as an added bonus, she wasn’t dead yet, after all! All the muslces in her body screamed pain. Even so, she tried to sit up, allowing her to see Youko with the Void in his hand once more.
“Good bye, Princess.”
And then he was running towards her. Mai knew she had nothing against Youko anymore, and she could only wish the Stars’ plan, whatever it was, would work out fine.
No more, she mentally pleaded as her eyes slid close and her back hit the ground once again. Please, Youko-san… No more…
Finally, after running on pure adrenalin for so long, the Princess succumbed to exhaustion. That’s why she didn’t feel the earth shake, making Youko lose his footing. Undaunted, Youko jumped to continue on his course, but he was distracted once again when rocks shot up from the ground below him. Small as they were, they hit Youko painfully, tore his clothes at several places, and even drew blood. Gritting his teeth, Youko threw a wind wave at Kamui…
…or rather, where Kamui had been standing a couple of minutes earlier.
Outside the barrier, Kamui smirked as the wind wave hit nothing but the castle wall. His smirk grew wider as Youko’s eyes swivelled from left to right, trying to find them. But, of course, Hikaru’s Light blinded him of the Stars’ location.
“Toriyama, get her out of there,” Kaji commanded suddenly.
Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed. “I thought we’d already established that nothing can pass through the barrier.”
“Nothing can go in, but Youko just demonstrated that things can come out.”
In his head, Kamui hit himself for not realizing that, as well.
“ONIICHAN! Youko—”
At Sara’s exclamation, Kamui turned to the battlefield again to look for their opponent only to find him gone.
“What—”
“GET HER OUTTA THERE!!!”
Acting as quickly as he could, Kamui took the block earth under Mai and lifted it. He was about to rush her out of the barrier when Youko suddenly appeared directly above her—
“MAI!!!“
—and in the blink of an eye, the blazing white sphere finally came in contact with the Deathrose Princess. Mai didn’t emit a single sound, even as her life force ebbed away.
But then, without the tiniest bit of warning, lightning struck Youko, making him yell in pain as he was flung into the air with the shock. He, of course, landed — albeit roughly — on his feet. In his crouching position, he violently shook his head, trying to get back on track.
“Mai…”
Aiko chose to ignore everyone’s stunned gaze at her. She wouldn’t know what to do even if she did take note of that, because even she didn’t know how she got to teleport so quickly after waking up that no one, not even Sara, realized that she had regained consciousness. But, right now, it didn’t matter.
“You’re going to be OK, Mai,” Aiko whispered, brushing a stray lock of hair from her twin’s now dirtied face. “Everything’s going to be all right…”
She then turned around to face Youko, and, before she could blink it back, a tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek.
“Oh, don’t be so sad, Wind Angel. You’ll be joining her soon enough.”
At this statement, Kamui felt the last of his patience shrivel up and die.
“I’m getting them out of there,” he stated, in a tone that clearly implied, ‘Just try to stop me and I will hurt you very badly’. But before he could do anything, Kaji clamped a hand on his shoulder.
“No, wait.”
“Wait for what?” Hikaru hissed, beating Kamui by a split-second.
“For Youko to be completely distracted,” Kaji answered, unfazed. “We can’t risk grabbing his attention right now.”
“But we’re losing Mai, Hino!” Kamui countered. “Can’t you feel her ki? It’s practically gone after she got tossed around and struck down by a man who just killed five of his own men — women— I mean men and women—”
“Roses.”
“Whatever!”
“Yes, but she’s not exactly gone yet. Right, Sara?”
“Well…” Sara hesitated, looking from the amazingly calm Kaji to the alarmed Hikaru and impatient Kamui, “I think she can still hold out for at least a few more minutes. Five, at the very least…”
“I’m not sad because of my sister,” Aiko said, breaking the argument between the Stars over the twins’ welfare. Her eyes met Youko’s silver gaze without the slightest bit of fear. “I’m sad because of you.”
When Aiko took a step forward, the silver-haired man did nothing but narrow his eyes at her. At this point in the battle, everything seemed to be so unpredictable…
“What the hell is she thinking?!” Hikaru hissed at no one in particular.
“She has a plan, obviously.”
Hikaru found it very hard to resist punching Kaji. “Hino. My sister is walking towards the E-N-E-M-Y. Are we seeing the same thing here?”
“Yes.”
“Are you not going to do anything about it?!”
“I am doing something, Hikaru…” Kaji said as Aiko took yet another step.
“…I’m letting her go.”
“Youko-san…”Aiko said, “You don’t have to die for this to end.”
“Is that a threat, Kazetenshi?” Youko laughed. “And who’s going to kill me? You?”
“No.” Another slow, deliberate step. “You are.”
Youko flinched. And there, in the silver depths of his eyes, something passed. Something that further saddened Aiko, at the same time filling her with hope. But as soon as it Aiko saw it, it disappeared. And as soon as it disappeared, Youko summoned the Void once more.
“Stop,” he said, his voice dangerously low. “Stop speaking as if you know me.”
And then, in the next moment, Youko was gone.
Closing her eyes, Aiko calmly jumped away a split-second before the ground she was standing on exploded from the air pressure of Youko’s punch. Quickly recovering, Youko followed Aiko into the air.
As he watched the intense duel, Hikaru could only pray for his sister’s safety. The Stars had finally regrouped, but everyone was exhausted. Although she still couldn’t move much, Yuki was already awake, and Kamui had finally gotten Mai out of the barrier, and Ran was in the process of Healing her. The only ones who were left actually standing was the two boys Kaji — who looked too exhausted to even use his Element, but was standing, anyway — and Kamui — who looked like he was exerting a LOT of effort not to jump in the middle of the duel to fight for Aiko.
“Youko, please stop this,” came Aiko’s voice, surprising Hikaru.
Amidst the intensity of the battle, amidst the punches, the lightning, and the blinding, searing heat of Youko’s attacks, Aiko still managed to speak so calmly. In fact, it was not only calm. She had pleaded to the enemy not in a fearful tone — she was not begging, although it seemed that she was close to it — but instead in a tone that was almost akin to someone speaking out of…love?!
“You blame yourself for the War, don’t you, Youko?”
“Stop it!”
“You think that it was your fault for falling for Shindou’s plot, for not seeing his plans in motion—”
“I said stop it!”
“—for not being able protecting Ran like an older brother should. “
“Shut up!”
“You blame yourself for the War, so, everyday, everything you do is simply to provoke Ran, so that, one day, he would just kill you. But he just won’t.”
“You know NOTHING!!!”
At that, Youko gathered an amazing amount of energy between his hands while Aiko landed gingerly on the ground.
“HAAAAAH!!!!!!”
Kaji stood dumbfounded at the scene before him.
What stunned Kaji wasn’t the simple fact that the energy that burst from Youko’s sphere was just unbelievably intense. It wasn’t because that blast was barreling towards Aiko, who seemed to be a tad too calm about everything right now for Kaji’s liking. It wasn’t even because of the Star Mark glowing on her right shoulder. It was because of the bright, angelic blue wings that gracefully yet majestically sprouted out behind her.
She raised a hand, and, seemingly without exerting the tiniest bit of effort, she deflected the attack. However, Youko kept feeding the sphere, thus the onslught of his energy didn’t stop, and even seemed to intensify.
“There has to be something we can do to help her,” Hikaru said. “Ran-sama, can’t we do soemthing like a long-distance Healing or something?”
Ran paused, shaking his head. “Healing needs contact, Hikaru.”
“But, haven’t you tried transferring ki without contact, Sara?” Kamui asked his sister.
“Yes, but that’s objects, Oniichan, I haven’t tried it on people!”
“Wait,” came Mai’s broken voice, making everyone turn to her. “I have an idea…”
As for Aiko, even though she looked like she was calm about everything, she was starting to feel exhausted. She knew that, even though she had had her rest, it was not enough to hold her throughout this whole fight. She needed help, but this was her turn to fight Youko, now. She wasn’t about to put her friends into any more danger—
“AIKO!”
Her eyes widened when, suddenly, bright light streaked right in front of Youko’s eyes, catching his attention, so that he didn’t notice the vines that burst from underneath him, swiftly surrounding and swallowing him. Now that her opponent was momentarily held, Aiko had the chance to turn towards her team. And there, running towards the large mass of green, bamboo sword in hand, was…
“Kamui?!”
As expected, the vines were ultimately not the answer to their problems: they burst to a thousand slivers of green just as Kamui kicked off from the ground for his turn to finally face off with Youko. Aiko was about to shout her best friend’s name again when, suddenly, maroon filled her vision. And, as it usually was whenever she looked into those deep eyes, time stopped.
She felt Kaji’s warm hands on her neck, and, without looking down, she knew that he was once again giving her his gift. The necklace that he had kept for years. His treasure.
“Fly, Aiko,” he said, smiling at her. “Spread your wings and fly…”
And then, he jumped away, shouting “Toriyama!” as he went. Aiko saw Kamui throw one last bamboo shoot at Youko as he barely avoided one of Youko’s attacks. He headed back to the Stars, throwing Aiko a small salute. But because of that, though, he didn’t see at once that Youko was generating another attack…
“KAMUI!”
Following Kaji’s advice, Aiko kicked the ground and flapped her wings, and flew so fast that even she was surprised. In the next second, she deflected Youko’s attack with her bare hands that were glowing like her necklace. But then Youko was charging at her again, and Aiko was able to block his Sword with her own twin lightning swords. After a swift exchange of stirkes and slashes, Youko generated yet another sphere. He punched it at Aiko, who jumped away and drew her hand to throw icicles at her silver-haired opponent.
Wait a minute.
Icicles?!
Youko seemed to notice this, as well, as he aimed his outstretched arm at the Stars down below. But his aim was destroyed when a vine wrapped around his wrist, making the sphere he shot hit the palace wall instead of the Stars.
Aiko wasn’t sure how it happened, but for some reason, she had all the Elements at her disposal. And, for some reason, she knew exactly what to do.
She pulled at the vine, making Youko whirl around to face her again. As Youko’s Sword materialized, the vine in Aiko’s hand disappeared to be replaced with a bamboo sword, while an ice blade froze out from her left hand. Aiko threw her bamboo sword to her left hand, which fused with the ice sword, in time to clash Youko’s Sword. Her right hand now free, a fire sword blazed forth, which joined the other two swords as soon as Youko was thrown off by a blast of wind. She landed on the ground crouching, her Sword of multiple Elements blazed white, electricity crackling around it, before it turned black.
Aiko winced as energy surged through her body, and she had to pause to adjust to the newfound power.
So this is how it feels to be a powerful Kurobara.
Scary.
That pause was a hundredth of a second too long. Aiko looked up, her eyes widening as she barely blocked Youko’s Sword. She rolled away, then the Swords clashed again. And then, as she tried hard to keep up with Youko’s speed, a voice resounded in her mind, once again giving her the words to speak.
“Will you please, for once, stop thinking that you need to sacrifice yourself for everyone?”
Aiko had thought that maybe Youko was going to get angry again. But, instead of shouting at her, his silver eyes widened, and, for the first time, Aiko saw pure, sincere surprise, and even something that could nearly be categorized as longing. And even as their swords remained as they were, Youko involuntarily spoke, his voice in a hoarse whisper.
“Yume?”
Through everything Yume explained to her, Aiko eventually decided not to be angry at Youko, hard as it was. But that look on his face was just…breaking. And suddenly, Aiko finally understood what Yume had been trying to tell her. That, out of everyone involved, Youko was the one who most needed his friends, his family, his brother. Out of everyone, he was the one most desperately lost.
“Despite everything that had happened, Ran still sees you as his brother, Youko. And you see him as yours…” And then, Aiko felt herself smiling. “You deserve to be happy, too.”
To this, Youko said nothing, but instead jumped away from her and into the air. The fury in his eyes was now gone, but that look in his face simply scared Aiko. This time, though, she was not scared of him, but for him.
For a moment, nobody did anything, and the wind blew against Youko’s silver locks as Aiko waited for his move. He lifted his hands, “Universe” glowing on his left palm. No one but Aiko saw it though, for a white sphere materialized between his palms in an instant.
“So, then,” she heard Youko’s voice in her mind as the sphere grew, “give me my rest.”
And then the attack was released.
Aiko stretched out her hands towards the sphere hurtling towards her, and she felt Yume’s sorrow tugging at her heart…as was Ran’s… as was her own. And then the sphere in her hands shot out to meet Youko’s, just as she heard Ran’s strangled cry.
“NO!!!”
The two spheres collided with each other, held equilibrium for a split-second, then exploded into each other, causing the Stars to shield their eyes despite the barrier Sara put up for them at the last instant.
“AIKO!!!”
The dust hadn’t settled yet, but Kaji was already running towards the fallen Wind Angel. Not really caring to check if Youko was indeed defeated, he cradled her in his arms. Her wings were gone, her necklace glowed no more, and she was frighteningly pale. For a second, he suddenly thought that maybe they shouldn’t have let her fight Youko alone, after all.
“Aiko?” he asked, cupping her face in his hand. To him, her skin was simply too cold.
No…No, please, no…
Kaji looked up when delicate fngers took Aiko’s hand.
“There’s a pulse,” Sara said. “Faint, but still there. She’s still breathing, too.”
“And her ki?” Kaji asked. When he had frantically searched for her life force earlier, he felt it unstoppably ebbing away. He wished with all his might that he had been wrong out of panic, but Sara’s silence and that look in her eyes didn’t help to ease him at the very least. Kaji looked from one to Toriyama to the other. Kamui was silently kneeling there, his eyes fierce as he looked at his best friend. He looked like he was going to break down in about a second.
Well, Kaji was close to breaking down, too.
“C’mon, Aiko… Please… Open your eyes…”
As the sun rose in the horizon, no one but the wind heard his plea…
Ran kneeled beside Youko as the wind blew his silver bangs away from his face. After a moment, he lifted his right hand, “Power” shining faintly, but shining nonetheless, on his palm. He was about to touch Youko’s shoulder when, suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist, surprising him.
“Don’t…” came a hoarse voice. “Don’t even try to Heal me…”
“But…”
“I shot the Void, Ran. As the Wind Angel said, I‘m the one who’s going to stop this nonsense.”
“But, Youko—”
“I’m sorry,” Youko interrupted him. “I’m sorry for being a blind, selfish, idiot. I wasted not only 300 years of my life, but of yours, as well… I should have listened to you, and I’m sorry. I know this won’t give anybody’s life back, but I’m saying sorry, anyway.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I can’t believe you actually blamed yourslef for—”
“Just say I’m forgiven, will you?”
In spite of the situation, Ran grinned. He never thought he’d be glad to hear that joking impatience in Youko’s voice.
“You’re forgiven. On behalf of everyone involved, I’m forgiving you.”
“Thank you. And I forgive you for being the foolish little brother who never thought about the consequences of your actions, and for always getting me into trouble.”
Ran’s grin turned into a smile, but, not a second later, it fell.
“Youko, you don’t have to go…”
Ran watched in wonder as Youko laughed hoarsely. Only then did he realize that he missed seeing Youko laugh at him, not mockingly, but with sincere amusement.
“Ran, you’re a big kid now. I think you can take care of yourself without my help.”
“But still…”
There was a pause, and Ran felt Youko’s grip on his wrist loosen. In a desperate attempt to hold on, Ran caught his brother’s falling hand.
“I’m tired Ran…” Youko told him, his voice weakening with every word. “I think I’m going to sleep now. Try not to go and run into scrapes again, yeah?”
“Of course… Oniisama…”
With his black bangs shielding his eyes, Ran watched as Youko’s chest rose and fell…
until it rose no more.
————–
The End.
————–
Ahaha. Nah, just kidding.
Next on Blue Star
As they always say, all things must come to an end. But every ending is the beginning to something new.
“Sometimes we take things for granted… We only realize their importance when they’re already gone.”
Epilogue: Crossroads
—–
From the Author
Although this is the last episode, there shall be an epilogue. A word of advice, though: don’t expect a happy ending. But don’t expect a sad one, either… Heck, don’t expect anything at all.
Random comment #1: Man, oh man, that episode was so looooooooooooooooong!!!
Random comment #2: Arrr… I have GOT to give proper names to those attacks!
Random comment #3: Waaah… Blue Star is almost done… I think I’m gonna cry…
Review Topics
This spans Episodes 26 Parts 1 and 2. Aside from your own violent reactions and raves, you have a LOT of review topics to choose from today. Let’s do this by character:
Aiko: Seeing that she had somewhat disappeared since Episode 22, I was wondering if I was able to reestablish her well. I felt that Aiko being the heroine in this ep kinda got diminished. I hope it wasn’t.
Kaji: Do you think he lost authority in this ep? After rereading it, I kinda thought his role as the Stars’ leader kinda got lessened, as well. And that should NOT be so.
Yuki: Do you think she’s too… uh… stiff? Seeing that she keeps reminding people what they ought to be doing instead of… well… whatever they were doing, I think I went overboard with trying to maintain her character as the most focused Star. She also kinda disappeared in the second half of Ep26. Arrrrr…
Kamui: Brilliant Boy. Hehe. What do you think is going to happen to Kamui-Mai now? Establishing the Aiko-Kamui-Mai triangle was already a challenge; I realized just now that sorting it out is tremendously harder.
Mai: Was she way too cool that she took most of the glory? Although it WAS Aiko (and everyone else) who ultimately defeated Youko, Mai had a key role while Aiko was out cold. I was wondering if I overdid it.
Sara: I really hope she doesn’t look like a bench-warmer here. She DID do a lot of Healing although it isn’t so noticeable.
Hikaru: Did you expect him to know about Mai? Is his behavior in this episode consistent with his character?
Ran: I realize that this is only the second time we’ve seen him fight. Is he cool enough to be the Blue Star leader? Was he being too soft towards Youko?
Youko: Was he too antagonistic? Was his turnaround too sudden? Was his defeat too cheesy and anticlimactic, or was it believable and fitting?
